Last week we endured another cold May evening but a good night’s Aunt Sally and for some teams another excellent result. In the A section Steventon Sports SCA and near neighbours The Red Lion are leading the way, both unbeaten after just 3 games and both have wins already over last years Premier Champions and Runners up. Steventon securing a 5-1 victory over Abingdon Con Club who have now suffered 3 successive defeats which is probably their first for many, many years and that despite being strengthened the early return from his recent operation of Phil Adams. For the Con Club Dave Dix returned to record the best total of the night with 13 dolls and teammate Paul Barrett added 12. Phil weighed in with 8 dolls, but their team total of 61 dolls on the night was not enough as Steventon ‘s Colin Brind’s 11 dolls, Doug Bolton’s 10 dolls and a contribution for all of their other team members was enough to earn the 5 points and an overall doll total of 74 on the night. The Red Lion also continued on their winning way with a 4-2 win at the Croft. Dean Bowler including his second maximum of the season as he added 11 dolls to his and the Lion’s excellent start to the season. For the Croft Alan Bell also hit a maximum leg, Martin Robinson top scored with 11 dolls and although Ian Brook weighed in with 10 dolls it was not enough to avoid the Nomads falling to their second defeat in 3 outings.
Berinsfield lead the way in the Premier with 3 successive wins and are already 7 points clear in the section. It’s a bit different in the A section though with only 5 points separating the 5 teams despite 2 of those being unbeaten! In the other sections there was plenty of good scoring and pride of place to Dean Cheshire who was the third player on the night to hit a maximum 6 leg. Lots of double figures recorded Steve Martin and Jumbo Mott for Abingdon Utd A, Rob Glenn’s 11 for Stanford FC, a 10 for Jerry Brandish for the Vine, Russell Flower’s 10 for the Fleur B, Billy Collett hit 10 for The Plough, Long Wittenham and a lot of 5 doll legs were recorded by players across the sections.
Early leaders in the other sections are WADS Bar A in the B section who have 3 straight wins at the top of that section, The Waggon & Horses lead the C section, but no team have a 100% record there, in the D section both unbeaten teams are The Prince of Wales and The Fox, Boars Hill top the table, the E section is led by Hanney RBL and the F and G sections are headed by The Brewery Tap and Oxford RFC. It’s still early days and as well as byes in 4 of the sections a couple of games did not take place last week due to illness and injuries so will probably need to be added to the fixture schedule later.
This Wednesday promises to be warmer so let’s hope the forecasters are right and we can have some more typical warm weather over the next couple of weeks as we close out the month of May!
Just a reminder that entry form for the Singles, Pairs, Captains and Secretaries Competition close at the end of the month. Forms are online and entry is just £1 per person per competition. All of these competitions will take place at Abingdon United FC using 2 throws on the Sunday afternoon of the 28th June with a 12.30 start and the bar will be open throughout.
Just a couple thoughts about the handicap system in the Premier and A section which is based on the previous season individual averages, but only for those players registered for this season including those who may have changed teams. A quick comparison of team averages after just 3 games this year compared to the same 3 weeks last year is quite revealing:
2025 2026
Berinsfield SC A 22 21
Croft Nomads 21 19
Plum Pudding 19 20
Abingdon United A 17 16
Abingdon Con Club 22 16
Steventon Sports A 18 23
The Red Lion 20 22
Stanford Fc 18 20
College Oak 17 18
These include some roundings (up and down) and handicaps, It is not based on top 8 players only on those who have, or did play, the first 3 games of the 2 seasons and it does show with probably only the one exception that the often much maligned handicap works OK, but cannot be perfect because the same players don’t always play nor do their individual scores always be consistent.
In advance I apologise for any errors or inconsistencies in my calculations!! It was just my attempt to illustrate that individual and team form is not always consistent and therefore the handicap can’t always be perfect!!
A final note and thanks to every one for getting your results and team scores in online and on time it’s really helpful.
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